Annotated Bibliography Of John Steinbeck

Annotated Bibliography Of John Steinbeck East of Eden is John Steinbeck’s most famous novel. This book published in 1952 has won international critical acclaim, and propelled Steinbeck to international glory. Critics, both positive and negative, often describe the book as the most ambitious literary project of Steinbeck. The book talks about the intricacies of two families that live in the Salinas valley. The families are the Hamilton’s and the Trasks. The two families have interwoven stories. The book originally addresses the author’s two young sons, Thom and john. The book describes in detail the Salinas valley in California where the story is set. The story also involves other places like Connecticut and Massachusetts. The Salinas valley in central California is aptly described as it is the setting of the book. The story begins with the Hamilton family that has emigrated from Ireland. Samuel Hamilton raised his brood of nine children on some infertile patch of land until they are able to fed for the mselves. As Hamilton’s children begin to leave home, a well-off stranger buys the best ranch in the Salinas valley. The stranger is Adam Trask, and he has come to his riches after discovering that his father left him and his brother some worthwhile inheritance. Adam has fallen in love, and married Cathy Ames, a girl who is described as a monster. This is because she has been a manipulator of men, and she has left home after killing her parents. After giving birth, Cathy shoots Adam in the shoulders and flees. Adam has to rear his twin boys with the help of Samuel Hamilton and Lee. Lee is a Cantonese servant of Adam. The three men make good companionship and engage in lively biblical debates. Cathy turns to prostitution, and through murder, manages to acquire a brothel. The boys grow up, and Samuel Hamilton dies. Adam loses his fortune in a business misfortune. One of the boys chooses to farm, and the other twin becomes a priest. Caleb the farmer gets to be successful. During thanksgiving, he gives his father a gift of $15,000, which his father rejects. Meanwhile, his brother, Aron wants to drop out of college. The book ends with Adam bedridden, and Lee pleading with Adam to forgive his son. Benson.J. (1977). John Steinbeck: Novelist as Scientist. Novel, Vol. (10):6. It is important to note that, during the publication of East of Eden, the book did not get positive acclaim. It was rejected for many literary and biblical allusions that did not auger well with the critics of his day. East of Eden has been loved by the general readership worldwide. One of the failures of the East of Eden is that the book has borrowed heavily from Author Gunn’s book, New family physician. The borrowing is used to deepen the creative legacy and artistic portrait of Samuel Hamilton. John Steinbeck, in writing East of Eden, has strayed from his literary style and adherence to realism and naturalism. This is because of his habit of what he has referred to as creative read ing. Creative reading can be related to creative writing. Only in this case it is the opposite, for the creative reader reads to write. The implication is that Steinbeck has immersed himself in various documents, some of them scientific to come up with East of Eden. The book has been superimposed with so many allusions that it loses the fictional ability with which it is supposed to command the reader of fiction. The result is that the book borders on non fictional work. In many respects, the book is drawn from the author’s background. This makes it an autobiographical stretch of his life. For example, Samuel Hamilton, the benign farmer is a representation of Steinbeck’s grandfather. His execution of form (Steinbeck’s) is heavily influenced by other works. The problem is not the heavy borrowing, the problem is the way he has failed to disguise his borrowing. It is a fact that all great literary work is some form of copying, or stealing. Shakespeare plagiarized n inety percent from ancient Greek writing. He plagiarized in mastery disguise, and what we have of him are great works. East of Eden is blatantly plagiarized.